Sorry everyone, Blue Monday is real and it's coming for you

Blue Monday lands on January 16 this year and it’s like a case of the Mondays…multiplied by 10.

The original Blue Monday was spearheaded by a PR company for the purpose of inspiring people to take winter vacations. They used an equation that calculated the weather, your motivation, your general happiness, and your credit card debt to unscientifically come up with the Most Depressing Day.

But don’t be fooled, the worst part about Blue Monday is very real – your post-holiday credit card bill.

Luckily, we’re here to help. This is why Blue Monday is real, why it’s coming for you, and this is what you can do to stop it.

The future is now

Online shopping/Shutterstock

While you were slapping down your card to pay for cab rides and Starbucks coffees, you probably felt like it wouldn’t bite you later on. But you slapped it down. It made contact with the machine. It certainly felt like you paid for it. Which is why getting your Blue Monday bill feels like your card is slapping you in the face the same way it hit those payment options.

Over-buying

Sure, now you see that the exceedingly long list of items on your credit card bill could have easily been shorter (Aunt Mildred doesn’t necessarily needa $250 home spa set.) And now you’re stuck paying for her mani pedis when you can’t even afford new nail polish.

All those holiday nights out

Five chocolate martinis: $56. Three desserts at $14 a piece. It was fun while it lasted, but now your credit card bill is back like a bad hangover to remind you that chocolate is never as sweet the second time around.

Impulse purchases – and their prices – are back

You didn’t need the 2oth anniversary edition of the Burton custom snowboard. But hey, now it’s sitting in your apartment…and its $630 price tag is hidden in last month’s recycling bin. All of the sudden that price tag on your bill is feeling pretty real.

The good news

While we can’t help you in time for this Blue Monday, we canhelp you avoid this feeling the next time you’re thinking of going overboard on a holiday binge (Valentine’s Day is a month away, just saying.)

Thanks to a new payment plan from American Express, we’re aiming to ban every form of Blue Monday out there.

When you need to get a new couch, or you want to buy the dress of your dreams (whether that’s for your wedding or just a Saturday night,) you’ll have the option to pay it off over the course of a year rather than all at once.

And with the option to automatically put any purchase over your chosen amount of $250, $500 or $1,000, onto the instalment plan, you won’t ever have to worry about facing a monster bill.

Oh, and you’ll only have to pay a 2% to 5% fee, depending on the length of instalment you choose. And while we’re not exactly mathematicians over here, we’re pretty sure that’s a lot less than the 19% to 21% interest you’ll pay if you carry a credit card balance.

The instalment plan is available for American Express cardholders – all you have to do is call the number on the back of your card to find out if you’re eligible.